The revision of the Immigration Control Act in June 1990 marked of a new stage in the evolution of the foreign worker problem in Japan. For the puroses of this reseach, foreign workers in Japan were divided into two categories : Nikkeijin (persons of Japanese descent) particullary from Brazil and Peru, and non-Nikkeijin, principally migrants from other Asian countries.In 1997, the research concentrated on the employment and living conditions of Nikkei Brazilians in Japan. As well as visits to Japanese and ethnic businesses emplying Nikkeijin, a questionnaire survey was conducted in Ueda in Nagano Prefecture and Kosai in Shizuoka Prefecture. In 1998, the geographical scope of the research into the experience of Nikkei Brazilians was broadened to include Ota and Oizumi in Gunma Prefecture and interview surveys of non-Nikkei foreign woekers from Asia were conducted.The results of the research showed a clear trend towards increasing length of residence and for foreigners to show a desire t
… Moreo settle in Japan and, associated with this, a tendency for personal and social networks to expand. Despite the fact that many are over-stayers, foreugb workers frin Asia also show the same tendency towards increasing length of residence and the formation of networks with various support groups in Japan. Increasing length of residence is also associated with an increase in self-employment among foreigners, diversification of the industries in which they are involved, and a general shift from distribution type activities to manufacturing type activities.In the first half of 1999, the results of the groups research activities into the circumstances of Nikkei and Asian foreigners living in Japan were published as a series of Working Papers. In the autumn of 1999, an international symposium, Globalization of Labor Mobility and Settlement Patterns of Migrants, was held. Papers were presented by distinguished overseas, by representatives of local NGOs, and by members of the project group detailing the findings of the group's research. The final output of the project includes the publication of a book entitled "Globalization of Labor Mobility (kokusai roudouryoku ido no gurobaru ka)" and of a research report submitted to the Ministry of Education. Less